This is now becoming a real issue within the con community.
Social media is beginning to lead concoms to second guess their decisions on
the guests they have invited. It’s beginning to happen more and more, and it’s
a very slippery slope.
So, let’s dig into whether you should un-invite a guest. My
first reaction is to ask, “What did the guest do to get uninvited?” I think too often cons react to social media
without really doing any investigation into the allegations. Of course, if
concoms did more vetting in the beginning, it would help, but sometimes even
that doesn’t uncover everything.
As a concom, if you find yourself in a [crap] storm due to
your decision to invite a guest, the best thing you can do is say, “We hear you
and will be investigating this situation fully. Once we have made our decision,
we will make a public announcement of our plans. Please be patient as we work
through this decision.”
Keep in mind that sometimes social media warriors are simply
reacting to things which are greatly exaggerated. It’s best to do your due diligence and find
out as many facts as possible. This is where you will need to do a “deep dive”
into the situation and uncover as much of the truth as you can. This includes
contacting the guest for their side of the story.
You must make a truly informed decision. I can’t stress this
enough.
If you find that you have made an error in judgement,
contact the guest and explain the situation. Understand, though, that if you un-invite
a guest, you will be alienating their fans as well. You will need to decide if
you will do further damage to your con if make this move.
Once the guest is informed, you need to prepare a brief statement.
Don’t get into specifics as to why you made the choice you did, just that you
made a thorough investigation and made a choice which you believe is in the
best interest of the con and its members.
Side note: thorough investigations rarely take less than 3-4
days.
Good luck.
